Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I Have a Dream”

2010.08.31

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”²
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
                Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
                Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
                Pennsylvania.
                Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
                Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
                But not only that:
                Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
                Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
                Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
                Free at last! free at last!
                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³

荷西

2010.08.22

那一个晚上,荷西睡去了,海潮声里,我一直在回想少年时的他,十七岁时那个大树下 痴情的男孩子,十三年后在我枕畔共着呼吸的亲人。
  我一时里发了疯,推醒了他,轻轻地喊名字,他醒不全,我跟他说:”荷西,我爱你! ”
  ”你说什么?”他全然地骇醒了,坐了起来。
  ”我说,我爱你!”黑暗中为什么又是有些呜咽。
  ”等你这句话等了那么多年,你终是说了!”
  ”今夜告诉你了,是爱你的,爱你胜于自己的生命,荷西–”
  那边不等我讲下去,孩子似的扑上来缠住我,六年的夫妻了,竟然为着这几句对话,在 深夜里泪湿满颊。

深夜里泪湿满颊。醒来荷西已经不见了,没有见到他吃早餐使我不安歉疚,匆匆忙忙跑去厨
房看,洗净的牛奶杯里居然插着一朵清晨的鲜花。

我痴坐到快正午。这样的夜半私语,海枯石烂,为什么一日泛滥一日。是我们的缘数要
到了吗?不会有的事情,只是自己太幸福了才生出的惧怕吧!

照例去工地送点心,两人见了面竟是赧然。就连对看一眼都是不敢,只拿了水果核丢来
丢去的闹着。

一日我见阳光正好,不等荷西回来,独自洗了四床被单。搬家从来不肯带洗衣机,去外
面洗又多一层往返和花费,不如自己动手搓洗来得方便。

天台上晾好了床单还在放夹子的时候心又闷起来了,接着熟悉的绞痛又来。我丢下了水
桶便往楼下走,进门觉着左手臂麻麻的感觉,知道是不太好了,快喝一口烈酒,躺在床上动也不敢动。

荷西没见我去送点心,中午穿着潜水衣便开车回来了。“没什么,洗被单累出来了。”
我恹恹的说。

“谁叫你不等我洗的——”他趴在我床边跪着。“没有病,何必急呢!医生不是查了又
查了吗。来,坐过来……”

他湿湿的就在我身边一靠,若有所思的样子。

“荷西——”我说:“要是我死了,你一定答应我再娶,温柔些的女孩子好,听见没有
——”

“你神经!讲这些做什么——”

“不神经,先跟你讲清楚,不再婚,我是灵魂永远都不能安息的。”

“你最近不正常,不跟你讲话。要是你死了,我一把火把家烧掉,然后上船去飘到老死
——”

“放火也可以,只要你再娶——”

荷西瞪了我一眼,只见他快步走出去,头低低的,大门轻轻扣上了。

一直以为是我,一直预感的是自己,对着一分一秒都是恐惧,都是不舍,都是牵挂。而
那个噩梦,一日密似一日的纠缠着上来。

平凡的夫妇和我们,想起生死,仍是一片茫茫,失去了另一个的日子,将是什么样的岁
月?我不能先走,荷西失了我要痛疯掉的。

一点也不明白,只是茫然的等待着。

有时候我在阳台上坐着跟荷西看渔船打鱼,夕阳晚照,凉风徐来,我摸摸他的颈子,竟
会无端落泪。

荷西不敢说什么,他只说这美丽的岛对我不合适,快快做完第一期工程,不再续约,我
们回家去的好。

只有我心里明白,我没有发疯,是将有大苦难来了。那一年,我们没有过完秋天。

荷西,我回来了,几个月前一袭黑衣离去,而今穿着彩衣回来,你看了欢喜吗?

向你告别的时候,阳光正烈,寂寂的墓园里,只有蝉鸣的声音。

我坐在地上,在你永眠的身边,双手环住我们的十字架。

我的手指,一遍一又一遍轻轻划过你的名字——荷西·马利安·葛罗。

我在心里对你说——荷西,我爱你,我爱你,我爱你——这一句让你等了十三年的话,让我用残生的岁月悄悄的只讲给你一个人听吧!

我亲吻着你的名字,一次,一次,又一次,虽然口中一直叫着“荷西安息!荷西安
息!”可是我的双臂,不肯放下你。我又对你说:“荷西,你乖乖的睡,我去一趟中国就回来陪你,不要悲伤,你只是睡了!”

结婚以前,在塞哥维亚的雪地里,已经换过了心,你带去的那颗是我的,我身上的,是
你。

埋下去的,是你,也是我。走了的,是我们。

我拿出缝好的小白布口袋来,黑丝带里,系进了一握你坟上的黄土。跟我走吧,我爱的
人!跟着我是否才叫真正安息呢?

我替你再度整理了一下满瓶的鲜花,血也似的深红的玫瑰。留给你,过几日也是枯残,
而我,要回中国去了,荷西,这是怎么回事,一瞬间花落人亡,荷西,为什么不告诉我,这不是真的,一切只是一场噩梦。

离去的时刻到了,我几度想放开你,又几次紧紧抱住你的名字不能放手。黄土下的你寂
寞,而我,也是孤伶伶,为什么不能也躺在你的身边。

父母在山下巴巴的等待着我。荷西,我现在不能做什么,只有你晓得,你妻子的心,是
埋在什么地方。

苍天,你不说话,对我,天地间最大的奥秘是荷西,而你,不说什么的收了回去,只让
我泪眼仰望晴空。

我最后一次亲吻了你,荷西,给我勇气,放掉你大步走开吧!

我背着你狂奔而去,跑了一大段路,忍不住停下来回首,我再度向你跑回去,扑倒在你
的身上痛哭。

我爱的人,不忍留下你一个人在黑暗里,在那个地方,又到了那儿去握住你的手安睡?

我趴在地上哭着开始挖土,让我再将十指挖出鲜血,将你挖出来,再抱你一次,抱到我
们一起烂成白骨吧!那时候,我被哭泣着上来的父母带走了。我不敢挣扎,只是全身发抖,泪如血涌。最后回首的那一眼,阳光下的十字架亮着新漆。你,没有一句告别的话留给我。

那个十字架,是你背,也是我背,不到再相见的日子,我知道,我们不会肯放下。

荷西,我永生的丈夫,我守着自己的诺言千山万水的回来了,不要为我悲伤,你看我,
不是穿着你生前最爱看的那件锦绣彩衣来见你了吗?

下机后去镇上买鲜花,店里的人惊见是远去中国而又回来的我,握住我的双手说不出一
句话来,我们相视微笑,哪里都浮上了泪。

我抱着满怀的鲜花走过小城的石板路,街上的车子停了,里面不识的人,只对我淡淡的
说:“上车来吧!送你去看荷西。”下了车,我对人点头道谢,看见了去年你停灵的小屋,心便狂跳起来。在那个房间里,四支白烛,我握住你冰凉苍白的双手,静静度过了我们最后的一夜,今生今世最后一个相聚相依的夜晚。

我鼓起勇气走上了那条通向墓园的煤渣路,一步一步的经过排排安睡外人。我上石阶,
又上石阶,向左转,远远看见了你躺着的那片地,我的步子零乱,我的呼吸急促,我忍不住向你狂奔而去。荷西,我回来了——我奔散了手中的花束,我只是疯了似的向你跑去。

冲到你的墓前,惊见墓木已拱,十字架旧得有若朽木,你的名字,也淡得看不出是谁
了。

我丢了花,扑上去亲吻你,万箭穿心的痛穿透了身体。是我远走了,你的坟地才如此荒
我一次又一次的爱抚着你,就似每一次轻轻摸着你的头发一般的依恋和温柔。

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托托

2010.08.22

生命终究是绚烂的。

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Mad World

2010.08.15

Singer: Michael Andrews & Gary Jules

All around me are familiar faces 在我周围都是熟悉的面孔,
Worn out places Worn out faces 让人厌烦的地方,讨厌的面孔,
Bright and early for the daily races 清晨早起为了每天的工作,
Going no where Going no where 无处可去,无路可走,
Their tears are filling up their glasses 泪水浸末了眼眶,
No expression No expression 呆板的表情,冰冷的声音,
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow 我低头掩饰我的悲伤,
No tomorrow No tomorrow 没有明天,也没有希望.

And I find it kind of funny I find it kind of sad 我觉得可笑,我觉得悲哀,
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had 我做过最好的梦是我即将死亡。
I find it hard to tell you I find it hard to take 我很难倾诉,很难承受,
When people run in circles it’s a very very 人们在一个圈子里进进出出,
Mad world Mad world 疯狂的世界,无序的世界

Children waiting for the day they feel good 孩子等待着能让他们感觉快乐的日子,
Happy birthday Happy birthday 生日快乐,快乐生日,
And I feel the way that every child should 我觉得每个孩子该做的是,
Sit and listen Sit and listen 坐下,倾听,坐下,倾听,
Went to school and I was very nervous 走向学校,我感到不安,
No one knew me No one knew me 没人认识我,也没人了解我,
Hello teacher tell me what’s my lesson 好了,老师,告诉我课程吧,
Look right through me 请对我好些,
Look right through me 请正视我,
And I find it kind of funny I find it kind of sad我觉得可笑,我觉得悲伤,
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had 我做过最好的梦是我即将死亡。
I find it hard to tell you I find it hard to take 我很难倾诉,很难承受,
When people run in circles its a very very 人们在一个圈子里进进出出,
Mad world Mad world 疯狂的世界,疯狂的世界,
Enlarging your world 展现我的世界,
Mad world 疯狂的世界。

对联一

2010.08.15

上联:止尿喝三鹿。
下联:丰胸饮圣元。
横批:霸王绝顶。

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